Venezuela solidarity trip, 10/6-10/16

[eridani]

MARIN INTERFAITH TASK FORCE ON THE AMERICAS and VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY NETWORK present:
VENEZUELA: Labor, Ecology & Indigenous People's Day
October 6-16, 2007

This October we will travel from Caracas to eastern Venezuela with
experienced trip leader and long-time activist Lisa Sullivan. We'll see the sweeping changes taking place in the "Bolivarian Revolution."

Participants in the delegation will witness the "proceso" of change in education and literacy, health care and living conditions. We'll learn about the new experiments in citizen participation, cooperatives, and worker-run factories. There is a palpable sense of energy, hope and creativity taking place in Venezuela which is flowing beyond its borders.

After the landslide re-election of President Hugo Chavez last December, the new phrase guiding the country is "turning on all the motors of Venezuela's Socialism of the 21st century." This delegation will give participants both the overview of current directions, and a focus on two areas: labor and ecology.

Caracas and the East

In Caracas the group will meet with government and oil industry
officials, and visit social programs in the hillside barrios.

We will then travel east to the Afro-Venezuelan region of Barlovento to visit a cacao plantation and take a boat ride to observe the "spectacle of the birds" in the mangroves of Tacarigua de la Laguna. Further east, near the centuries-old former capital, Cumana, we will visit fishing cooperatives and enjoy the stunning eastern shores.

Orinoco

The second half of the trip will take place in Guayana in the southeast, home to Venezuela's most important natural resources and industry. Delegates will travel by boat down the tranquil Cano Manamo river to visit fishing communities of the Warao, Venezuela's second largest indigenous group. We will then ferry across Latin America's second largest river, the Orinoco, under whose shores lie the world's largest oil reserves. Across the river, the group will spend a few days in Ciudad Guayana a city searching for its identity between its stunning natural beauty and its growing iron, steel and aluminum industry.

Optional Destinations

For those who want to experience the exotic beauty of Angel Falls, the world's longest waterfall, or visit the ancient geological formations of the Gran Sabana and indigenous Pemon communities, we encourage you to add some personal travel days after the delegation. We will end the trip in Ciudad Guayana, which is the jumping point to these destinations.

Application

Cost for the ten-day trip is $1450, including most meals, lodging, and all in-country travel, as well as the return flight from Ciudad Guayana to Caracas. It does not include airfare to and from Venezuela.

For more information and an application, please call MITF, 415/924-3227 or email mitf {at} igc.org; or Laura Wells at lwlaura {at} yahoo.com.

[roody]

1. This is a wonderful group of people.